I tried the structured approach last year, with my reading list. Although I think that was useful as it brought together some of the books I had been wanting to read for some time, I think this year I will be reading more on whim. There are always interesting books that pop up throughout the year so the list of books I want to read grows and grows. I have already finished reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn which was just brilliant and I only first caught wind of it a couple of months ago. It was a book club pick so I’ll wait until after then to discuss it more and leave you hanging on…

I will be working my way through my bookshelves as they stand at the moment. From this, two portions of planned reading have emerged, thanks to a little pre-Christmas indulgence when Penguin were doing their 50% discount deal.

The first of these two will be a burst of classics. I really like the Penguin English Library covers and I used it as an excuse to buy some classics I hadn’t read. I’ll be starting this in mid-January, finishing (hopefully!) by the end of February. The books on the list are stellar, and I am a little ashamed to say that I have never read them:

I know, I know, I hang my head – a young woman who loves Kate Bush and hasn’t even read Wuthering Heights?! I did start it when I was younger but didn’t get very far… This will be duly rectified soon and I cannot wait – I want to see what all the fuss is about! The 28th of January sees the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice so I will be reading that after finishing off my current read, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki.

The next planned reading session is an Evelyn Waugh month. I read Brideshead Revisited a few years ago and really loved it, and since seeing Stephen Fry’s film Bright Young Things I have been keen to read Vile Bodies as that’s what it is based on. Again, these were picked up for a steal from Penguin. There are three to read and I may try and make a little event out of this – I’m pencilling this in for April at the moment but this may change. The books I’ll be reading by Waugh will be:

Vile Bodies
A Handful of Dust
Scoop

I quite like the idea of small, focused challenges to get stuck into as I think they’ll also make me more focused in my blogging. Time will tell! If you fancy reading some of these books along with me then do let me know – the more the merrier.